Prime Minister Justin Trudeau does not do a lot of things that are very endearing.

There are the schmaltzy photo-ops, the empty platitudes about being a feminist and then selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and, lord knows, I could say a lot about the public and private persona’s with respect to the Lavalin scandal. In recent developments surrounding this issue, the prime minister has broken with a common trend and refused to apologize for Canadian government actions. He has gotten criticism for being sorry in the past, but, the thing is, this is the one action out of the many he has done since 2015 that I think actually makes some degree of sense.

It is a positive thing for a public official and a society when a government apologizes for historical wrongs. It heals wounds, puts dark chapters in the past and, if compensation is offered, can head off potentially more expensive court costs from angry heirs and survivors.

I want to see it done more often. As long as heirs or directly effected are still alive, people should step up and admit their wrongs as you can never truly heal when the aggrieved parties have died. Yes, with the current government there have been a lot of attempts to mend fences. Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu said in 2018 the pace could make people question Trudeau’s sincerity, but, historically, other prime ministers have taken similar action when calls to do so became waves.

When Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was in office his administration formally apologized for the interning of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War. The elder Trudeau had resisted calls to do so when he was last in office and the 1988 action came with a $300 million compensation package. Was this wrong for those still alive? After all, not one internee had ever been charged with treason during the war.

Stephen Harper apologized for the residential school system in 2008. In parliament, he blasted the institutional abuse as a horrible miscarriage of justice and unjust mistreatment of those who wanted to preserve their cultural identities. People are still alive today who went through that system. Is it wrong to say their struggles and their pain mean nothing? I do not think so and neither should anyone from Vancouver Island to the east coast.

In my view, a great nation does not run from its flaws. It embraces them, looks to correct them and moves towards a more perfect future for all citizens. This country can, should and absolutely must do more of that sort of thing all of the time.

I do not enjoy Trudeau, I would have probably disliked Mulroney and was merely tolerant of Harper, but these moves mean something. They win hearts and minds and are a step on the path towards inner and outer peace. Whether you are Japanese and accused of disloyalty, an indigenous Canadian previously abused by a trusted adult or anything in between, you deserve to be given this respect by the nation’s government and those outside of your historically marginalized group. After all, dismissing one’s pain today could lead to you being a victim at another time.